Tocotronic got signed to L' Age D' Or, a German independent record label situated in Hamburg, in 1994 after quickly gaining popularity in the local scene. Their early style consists of ironic sloganeering ("I want to be part of a youth movement") and almost diary-like songwriting, paired with a lo-fi rock sound. In 1995 they released their debut-album "Digital ist besser" (Digital is better). Their third album, released in 1996, was the first to hit the German charts. The music got more complex over time, their lyrics less direct, resulting in a sound that was compared to that of Pavement on Tocotronic's 1999 album "K.O.O.K". The self-titled "White Album", released in 2002, features dreamlike songs; metaphoric, heavily produced, highly polished, it completes a slow but steady course away from their early works ("eins zu eins ist jetzt vorbei" - "one-to-one is over now").

Despite never being overly commercially successful, Tocotronic have a steady fanbase in Germany and their records are regularly reviewed in mainstream newspapers and music magazines alike.

In July 2007, Tocotronic released their eighth studio album, "Kapitulation". Also, around this time, the band announced the end of their working relationship with long-time label "L'age D'or", and consequently, "Kapitulation" was released by Vertigo Berlin, a sublabel of Universal music. Their ninth studio album, "Schall & Wahn", was released in January 2010 and became their first number-one record. "Wie Wir Leben Wollen", being released on 25th of January 2013, is the band's most recent album.